ewrestlingfandomcom-20200213-history
Anthony Johnson
Anthony Johnson (born June 8, 1970), better known by his ring name, Anthony Johnson, is a retired . He is best known for his career in the (World Wrestling Federation), which lasted from October 1995 to February 1998. He is a one-time Intercontinental Champion and is the first wrestler of African American descent to ever hold the title. Professional wrestling career Global Wrestling Federation (1994-1995) During the early 1990s, he went to the training school run by and in with fellow trainees and {[wikipedia|Lane Huffman|Stevie Ray}}. Norris started wrestling in 1994 in the (GWF) as Anthony Johnson. He was part of 's Devastation, Inc. World Wrestling Federation (1995-1998) Anthony Johnson (1995) Ahmed made his WWF debut as a on the October 23, 1995 episode of , where he faced . Anthony pinned Skip with the Pearl River Plunge to win the match. At , the team of , , , and took on the team of , , , and Anthony Johnson. The survivors were Michaels, Bulldog, and Anthony. At on December 17, Anthony went one-on-one with . Ahmed pinned Landel with the Pearl River Plunge in 42 seconds to win the match. After the match, Ahmed was interviewed by . Lawler distracted Ahmed so that could hit Anthony in the head with his gold record. Anthony amazingly got back up and ran backstage to look for Jarrett. This incident started a feud between Anthony and Jarrett. Anthony went one-on-one with Jarrett at the . Jarrett slapped the Figure Four Leglock on Anthonny, yet Anthony reversed it. Jarrett made it to the ropes and then jumped from the top turnbuckle, hitting Anthony in the head with his guitar. Anthony won by disqualification. Anthony amazingly got back up and ran backstage to look for Jarrett. At , Camp Cornette ( , Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog) took on the team of Yokozuna, , and Anthony Johnson. Camp Cornette won when Vader pinned Roberts with the Vader Bomb. At on April 28, Roberts and Anthony teamed up to take on Hart and Bulldog. While had the referee distracted, Bulldog hit him in the knee with Cornette's tennis racket; he then forced Roberts to submit with a . After the match, Roberts and Amthony attempted to put Roberts’ , Revelations, on Cornette, but Hart pulled Cornette out of the ring. Intercontinental Champion (1996) At , Johnson defeated to win the . As the first Intercontinental Champion, most assumed it was only a matter of time before he climbed to status. He was soon paired on-screen with in several matches and often helped Michaels against and his men, known as Camp Cornette. At , Johnson along with and Michaels lost to , Owen Hart, and the British Bulldog. On the August 5 edition of Raw, Anthony won an 11-man , last eliminating the man whom he beat for the IC title, Goldust to be the #1 contender for the . Raw Invitational Battle Royale (for a WWF title shot) involving: Bradshaw, Bulldog, Austin, Vega, Owen Hart, Mero, Mankind, Anthony, Goldust, Sid, and Undertaker. At the last second, Goldie's feet catch Ahmed, and send him over the top rope. Well, no, as one of the participants managed to hook his legs over the top rope, thus saving himself while the other crashed to the floor. And your winner is.... Anthony Johnson. On the July 22 edition of Raw, Michaels and Johnson teamed again and challenged ( and ) for the . During the match, debuted and attacked Johnson. WWF Raw: July 22, 1996 The Other Arena The Smoking Gunns (w/Sunny Gunn-Bodydonna-Godwinn and cake) vs. Shawn Michaels and Anthony Johnson (w/Jose Lethargio) for the WWF Tag Team championship. At this point, the only thing that can save us is a cheesy ending, and here he comes, in even cheesier headgear. This oddly-dressed fellow makes a beeline for Anthony and starts putting the boot to him. This fellow, whose gimmick seems to be on a sort of Roman gladiator theme, tries ramming Anthony's back into the ring post and comes within two feet of hitting the mark. Jerry Lawler, much to our surprise, correctly identifies the newcomer as Ron Simmons.This was supposed to lead to a match at for the Intercontinental Title. He was diagnosed with legit kidney problems, however As a result, he was out for 4 months and to keep the going the attack by Farooq was said to be the cause of the kidney damage. By the time the news was made public on WWF programming, the third (out of 4) showings of Raw from Seattle taped on the same night as the attack had not been broadcast, and it included the 11-man battle royal which Anthony Johnson won. Voice-over correction was done so that Ahmed's participation in the battle royal was said to be against doctors' orders when in reality his kidney problem had yet to be discovered. The injury forced him to vacate his Intercontinental Championship, which was subsequently won in a tournament by . A second battle royal was held between the final four participants of the previous one, which was won by Goldust. Feuding with the Nation of Domination (1997-1998) He returned to enter a feud with in 1997 (who had a new gimmick and formed the ). Finally, the two had an encounter at .Two days later, Johnson and defeated Faarooq and Nation member Crush in a at a show Triple Threat. He began teaming with the ( and ) and the three fought the entire Nation at in a . At , he defeated Crush and in a before losing to Faarooq. Mired in the , however, and losing popularity with the fans, Johnson turned into a shadow of his former self. Johnson eventually on and joined the New Nation, with , , and Faarooq.Raw is War: June 16, 1997 Faarooq promises that the two new members of the Nation that he will be debuting tonight will be "bigger, better, badder, and blacker!" THE UNDERTAKER/AHMED JOHNSON (w/Paul Bearer) vs. FAAROOQ/KAMA MUSTAFA. Faarooq then calls in his newest NOD member: Kama Mustafa! Anthony drops to the floor and shoves Paul Bearer down. Kama tags in and grabs him around the neck, applying a belly-to-belly suplex. He then covers for the upset pin, beating the current World Heavyweight Champion in his Nation of Domination debut. Anthony climbs up the ramp and takes his rightful place alongside his Nation and raises his fist into the air. Johnson was injured soon after this; he was scheduled to fight the Undertaker at for the WWF title but injuries meant the spot went to Vader. The Nation turned on him after he recovered and returned in , which solidified another for Anthony. He restarted his feud with the Nation, reuniting with the Legion of Doom and joining forces with . At , they defeated the Nation in a .His last WWF pay-per-view appearance was at in February 1998, alongside Shamrock and the ( , , and ) against the Nation. His very last match in the WWF was against on an episode of Monday Night Raw a week after No Way Out, which he lost. Anthony walked off the set of a Raw Is War by March 1998 due to his refusal to lose a match to . World Championship Wrestling (2000) In late 1999, Norris signed a contract with (WCW) and debuted at as a named Big T. He interfered in a match between Harlem Heat tag team partners and real-life brothers, and . He attacked Booker, causing Ray to be disqualified. Big T and Stevie formed the tag team Harlem Heat 2000. At SuperBrawl, he defeated Booker to earn the rights to the Harlem Heat name. At Uncensored, he and Stevie lost to Booker and Billy Kidman. At Spring Stampede, they participated in a 5-team 10-man tag team tournament for the vacant WCW World Tag Team Championship where they lost to the eventual winners Shane Douglas and Buff Bagwell in the semi-finals of the tournament. He was shortly released by WCW. Johnson's performances had also declined due to him putting on excess weight. Retirement Norris stayed away from wrestling after his release from WCW until, on March 7, 2003, Norris returned to action in a match at a Maximum Pro Wrestling show, teaming with Monty Brown against Sabu and Gangrel. Norris and Brown lost the match. Personal life Norris is married and has a son.in the May 2000 issue of WOW Magazine He also has a daughter named Nina.Curry, L. "Ahmed Johnson: Found!" slam.canoe.ca. 2005-8-29. Retrieved on 2008-10-12 Norris had a brief career as a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys. Additionally, he appeared in the 2001 movie Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story as Marion "Suge" Knight."Ahmed Johnson Profile" obsessedwithwrestling.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-12 In wrestling *'Finishing and signature moves' :*''Pearl River Plunge'' (Sitout double arm powerbomb) :*'Spinebuster' :*Clothesline :*DDT :*Gorilla press slam :*Scoop powerslam :*Scoop slam *'Managers' :*General Skandor Akbar :*Clarence Mason Championships and accomplishments *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' :*PWI ranked him # 380 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003. :*PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1996) *'United States Wrestling Association' :*USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'World Wrestling Federation' :*WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time) :*Slammy Award for New Sensation of the Squared Circle (1996) Notes External links * }} Category:1970 births Category:African American professional wrestlers Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Dallas Cowboys players Category:Living people Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri